Splitcoaststampers.com - the world's #1 papercrafting community
You're currently viewing Splitcoaststampers as a GUEST. We pride ourselves on being great hosts, but guests have limited access to some of our incredible artwork, our lively forums and other super cool features of the site! You can join our incredible papercrafting community at NO COST. So what are you waiting for?
Location: In my new "Ink Spot" which happens to be in Olathe KS!
Posts: 236
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Opinions
I recently found out we are having a baby.
Idealy I want to not work or work as part time as I can. I have a new car & a visa bill that needs to be paid off before I can totally quit working.
Think I could make any money doing wedding invites? Or baby cards? Misc blank cards?
There is a little candy shop near our home that sells ballons, ice cream, candy, & she has a rack of hand stamped cards, most of them sell between 2.50 & 3.75 each.
Before anyone rips my email apart I know the "angel policies" & totaly would comply, I am not advertising with this post- just curious if anyone thinks I could make a little cash here & there after the baby is here & I am not working 40 hrs a week. I also have a shopping/stamping addiction that will need tobe supported!!
I recently did 125 wedding invites(see Patton invite in my gallery) & they took about 6 days 4 or 5 hrs a day. I spent maybe $60, but gave them as their wedding gift from us. What would you charge for that?
ETA- these wouldnt be sold in a store... just to people who request them. I am not looking to replace my income we already live mostly off DH's salary but I will NEED shopping money!
__________________ JenniferPFromKc
my other hobby www.puhakphotography.com
Last edited by jenniferpfromkc; 03-02-2006 at 02:19 PM..
I've been a SAHM since my 1st DS was 9 months old. I worked part-time after he was born until my DH got promoted and his raise replaced my pay (considering gas and child-care). There have been times when we lived very frugally. One old car with no payments and cheap insurance. Cloth diapers, hand-me-downs and no vacations. Coupons, sales and cooking from scratch. We've done without a daily paper or cable TV, and didn't get a home computer until 2002. There were times when the only "extra" was film developing and scrapbook pages - to record those wonderful, blessed days of poverty and being together. To be honest I sometimes felt self-conscious about what we didn't have, and I had to remind myself that what I did have was ultimately better. Not everyone understood that. It wasn't always easy, but it was always worth it to us. My DH's work schedule has always been varied and unpredictable. Being at home meant we could have our family times when he was off. Otherwise, I'd have been at work and the kids would have been in day-care. We wouldn't have had 1/10 the time to do things together.
When DS #1 was in kindergarten we lived very near a fishing pier on the Chesapeake Bay. My DH would get him up at 5 am, they'd go fishing and then come home for breakfast and shower before work and school. They couldn't have done that if I hadn't been home. DH would have had to be back at work before time for DS to leave for school. Those memories are absolutely precious to both of them.
Whatever you and your DH decide, I wish you contentment, peace, and a decent camera.
__________________ Malinda
Why did she make things? Well, she enjoyed it, of course; it also somehow helped her remember who she was and where she came from.
SU policy does not allow you, even with an angel stamp, to sell in a store. You can sell your cards at places that are temporary setups like swap meets and craft fairs but not at permanent store fronts.
Sorry.
__________________ Aubrey
There are 3 types of people in the world. Those that can count and those that can't.
I would suggest that you continue to work for as long as you can stand it and put that $$ away into a savings account. Only live on what your DH is making to see if it's feasable for you to become a one-income family.
Lots of people do it. For some, it's more sacrifice than others. For some, it's too much sacrifice.
As for selling cards, I wouldn't count on selling anything homemade to pay the bills. The $$ earned is just to random to count on.
__________________ Aubrey
There are 3 types of people in the world. Those that can count and those that can't.
I noticed in your profile you are a loan processor. Can you not do that from home? My soon to be step sister does that from home so she can stay with her baby. Maybe you could look into doing that from home.
Congrats on your baby! When I have children, being a stay at home mom is very important to me. I don't want my children being raised by someone else. And daycare is so very expensive!
As to making cards & such for income, what would it hurt to try? It wouldn't be a lot, but it may be a little something here & there. As to the store front, it is true we aren't supposed to sell SU in a store, but I believe that is actual merchandise. I see hand stamped cards for sale around here all the time. And if you aren't a demo, there really isn't anything they can do. There is a demo who sells current sets & cards in her store in town. They haven't done anything to her and she has been doing it for years. Anyway, I wouldn't depend on it as steady income.
Good luck to you!
__________________ Nicole
"Don't worry about anything; instead pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank Him for all He has done" Philippians 4:6
It may be done, but it is not legal. Copyright rules and such. And SU's Angel Policy (as well as those of many other stamp companies) forbids selling handmade cards in permanent locations.
That said, that is not against everyone's policy. TAC allows you to do this. (I'm not a TAC demo).
__________________ Sharon Rogers
My Blog: www.stampwithsharonrogers.com Attitudes are contagious. Is yours worth catching?
If you find a store that will sell your cards and you are not a demo, just do it. The SU police will not come and take you away. This is why I'm getting out of SU ~ the over policing by demos of things like selling a few cards in a store to help a mother stay with her child. I'm sorry, it's just some are so militant about it and why? Does it hurt your personal business if a non-demo sells a few cards? No, it probably benefits you because you sell the non-demo the sets. Really, this isn't about causing a brew haha, it's just that some demos.....sigh
Location: The weeds are popping up, and I'm having asthma issues
Posts: 6,312
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
you could sell your car and use what you've been paying on it to pay down the credit card. You would save on gas and insurance as well. I agree with the other posters - you won't make much with homemade things, but where there's a will there's a way.
I have no idea how much to charge for wedding invites. A minimum of $2 each would be a start, probably more.
Sacrifices can be made, and staying home can be great. It can also be isolating so try to find a MOPS group or MOMS club or something like that to get involved in. You can network through these groups to find others willing to buy your baby announcements, thank you cards, Christmas cards, etc.
As far as how to price things like invitations or announcements, I would pop into one of the wedding stores in town and get an idea of how much per invite similar cards to the ones you would make are selling for. I know you can't compare in price to mass-producers, but that is who you would be "competing" against. Two things I would think are quite important when determining the cost of a block of cards is to pay yourself a decent hourly wage, and to take into consideration the cost of mis-prints based on the particular design of the card. If some card designs have a highish failure rate, it is only fair to you to take that into consideration in your pricing and mention these things during your planning meetings with your clients.
I have no experience with selling cards, but have learned a lot from SCS. I have also seen a lot of people who are charging a pittance for gorgeous cards that would be sold for a lot more if there was a Hallmark logo on the back of them. Folks tend to think handcrafted cards ought to be cheaper than manufactured ones. emilymomto3boys started a thread recently on how one of her in-laws sent her a bought appreciation card that was very simple and didn't compare to anything we see here in the gallery, but was over $4 because of the logo on the back. So maybe another thing to consider is keep some bought samples on hand so your clients can see how much crappy but expensive bought cards are. HTH.
Bear in mind that crafters never earn enough to compensate for their time. It has been my experience that if you can double the amount of your expenses, you've come out ahead. Your love of artistry and crafting is sometimes the reward for the product. I have been working in and out of different arts and crafts genres for years, and never have made enough that would support what I would make in an office. Once my children were in elementary school and wanted to participate in after school activities was when I finally quit work. When we added up my parking, clothes and childcare at the time, I wasn't bringing home $100 a week. So in turn, I quit buying the clothes that I didn't need anymore, quit eating out as often and cut back on some of the little extravagences that we enjoyed. That was 12 years ago, and I have never worked full time since. I have worked some part-time jobs but always when the girls were in school and I could be home with them in the afternoons. Now I craft for a living. full-time. Let me tell you -- there's not much money in it and my girls don't understand that when I'm in the studio working, that I am actually working. I'm home and still should be able to drop everything to come to their immediate need (and they are now 17 and 20). You have to listen to your heart and do what you think is best. God only gives us what we can handle and it always works out in the end and generally for the better.
What about if you did invites/thank-you's as a party service, like someone would purchase a theme cake you could sell them the theme cards/decorations to go along with it. All it would take is word of mouth starting with some good friends/family.
Good Luck!!
I am a SAHM of 2 girls and I love that I can give them and myself and my dh all of my attention whenever they need it.
I don't get a ton of creative time with my stamps/scrapbooks but right now it's more important to be with my daughters.
HTH,
Maureen
__________________ "In every job that must be done there is an element of fun. Find that fun and snap the job's a game."
Mary Poppins
Up until about 5 years ago, SU didn't let anyone sell anything made with their stamps at all. The angel policy they have in place now is a big step forward.
There are some stamp companies that don't want you to make anything with their stamps and sell them, that's their right, and if I want to make items for a craft fair (I only participate in 2 per year) I make sure I don't buy the stamps from companies who won't let me sell my items.
If I want total control over my craft fair items, I can always carve my own stamps from erasers. Start my own stamp company and make everyone else bend to my will - pretend you can hear my mad scientist laugh now.
Location: In my new "Ink Spot" which happens to be in Olathe KS!
Posts: 236
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Quote:
Originally Posted by LeahsCreations
you could sell your car and use what you've been paying on it to pay down the credit card. You would save on gas and insurance as well.
We have considered this but it isnt an option. We are very much a 2 car family!
Thanks ladies for your opinions! We'll see how it goes & if I sell 1 card, 1 set of wedding invites it will be better than nothing & I can buy more stamps!!
Thanks! J
Good luck Jennifer. Just sit down and be very serious about a budget. Like others have said, it may require great sacarifies. I have a friend that paid everything off except the house before the baby and they didn't have cable, cell phones, nothing for many years in order for her to stay home. I would also recommend speaking with a financial advisor because if you only have one income, your DH might be able to up his number of exceptions on his paycheck and therefore bring home a little more income.
As for the Angel Policy, it applies to everyone not just demos. People say just demos because they will lose their demo status if caught. You are violating copyright laws. Every company has them, just some are more stict than others. I believe Hero Arts has theirs on the website. Disney doesn't let you copy anything they make. It is their image, not yours to profit from. Just providing info and not wanting to cause a debate. Any SU demo can give you the written Angel Policy.
Opinions
